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‘Only when you become one of those numbers, when you’re in it, do you realise how serious it is’

Conservative Young Women condemns ‘deplorable’ police response to violence against womenThe Conservatives’ young women’s group has called for an investigation into “the apparent culture of misogyny in the police”, piling pressure on Boris Johnson after he faced down calls for a major independent inquiry.Conservative Young Women spoke out in the wake of Sarah Everard’s murder and after Met police officers were charged over photographs taken at the scene of the murders of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, which were then allegedly shared in a WhatsApp group. Continue reading...

Severed digit found in Southampton belongs to 28-year-old man who is now getting treatment in hospitalPolice have traced the owner of a severed finger that was found outside a block of flats in Southampton.It was discovered in a parking area in Lower Bannister Street on Saturday morning. Continue reading...

India’s tiny train has puffed up the Himalayas since 1881 but now the world heritage site is under threat“Darjeeling ko sano rail, hirna lai abo tyari cha / Guard le shuna bhai siti bajayo” (Darjeeling’s dainty train is all set to chug off / Oh, listen to the guard blowing the whistle): generations of children in Darjeeling have grown up hearing these lines from a Nepali nursery rhyme. Serenading the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), it depicts the close relationship between the “Queen of the Hills” and local people.However, that relationship has become strained after the Indian government decided to hand over the running of the railway – listed by Unesco as a world heritage site – and oversight of the land adjoining the stations to a private company, threatening jobs and livelihoods. Continue reading...

Supporters of Saied – who seized power in July – take to the streets in Tunis to back his promised reformsThousands of supporters of the Tunisian president, Kais Saied, have rallied in the capital to back his suspension of parliament and promises to change the political system, acts his critics call a coup.The demonstration in central Tunis was by far the biggest since Saied seized executive power in July, a show of support by his supporters that dwarfed two protests against his actions over the previous two weekends in the same location. Continue reading...

US and European media give their verdict on the fuel, food and labour crisis they say is caused by BrexitGovernment ministers may insist it is “wrong” to blame Brexit for Britain’s fuel, food and labour shortages, but for the rest of Europe – and beyond – there is only one reason why the UK’s crisis is so very much worse than anywhere else’s.“One is tempted to tell the British: ‘You have only yourselves to blame,’” said Gabi Kostorz on ARD’s Tagesthemen, a leading German news show. “We tried to talk you out of it, but you decided otherwise. Now you have to face the consequences.” Continue reading...

Ambassador Qirjako Qirko said many Albanians living in the UK could step in as HGV drivers to ease shortfallAlbania has said thousands of its migrants to the UK would be willing to work for nothing to help tackle the petrol crisis.Albania’s ambassador to the UK, Qirjako Qirko, told the Guardian: “If your government would like, we can offer good reliable drivers, maybe 5,000 immediately.” Continue reading...

The three contenders to take the helm for the continent as era of outgoing German chancellor draws to a closeShe dominated Europe – a de facto leader in a time of crisis. For 16 years, Angela Merkel has used her signature cautious, calm pragmatism to steer the continent through the rise of the far-right, a blundered response to migrant arrivals, and, of course, Brexit.With the Merkel era drawing to a close, another European leader could emerge and take the helm. Here are the main contenders: Continue reading...

Oyster Court in Southwark doesn’t meet height threshold for bailout in wake of Grenfell Tower disasterNurses, teachers and post office workers are among those facing crippling fire-safety bills which they believe could reach £85,000 each despite only owning a fraction of their homes.Housing association Optivo this week told key workers in shared ownership properties in Oyster Court in Southwark, south London, that they faced a combined £2.6m bill to fix problems including combustible cladding, wooden balconies and missing firebreaks. Continue reading...

As an autobiographical novel by the writer is published for the first time in English, Sylvie Le Bon de Beauvoir – the adopted daughter with whom Simone shared the last 26 years of her life – talks about their bond“Simone de Beauvoir was haunted by the death of her childhood friend Zaza… I think she spent the rest of her life looking for the intimacy they’d had,” says Sylvie Le Bon de Beauvoir. “For a long time she didn’t succeed, but I believe she found it with me.”For all but the most ardent followers of the 20th-century feminist and author of The Second Sex this statement may come as a surprise. De Beauvoir is most famously linked to fellow writer and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, with whom she enjoyed – and at times endured – a 50-year open relationship. Continue reading...

Preparatory sketch discovered beneath Norwegian master’s painting shows how he struggled with the original compositionIt is one of art history’s most evocative female forms, a painting of a nude woman arching her back sensually, one arm behind her head and the other behind her back. Now a preparatory drawing has been discovered beneath Edvard Munch’s Madonna in the National Museum of Norway, revealing that the Norwegian master struggled over how he should place her arms, initially showing them just hanging down, until inspiration came to him.The underdrawing also shows that this masterpiece is likely to have been the first of five painted versions that Munch created in the 1890s. Continue reading...

State treasurer declares his intention to take over from Gladys Berejiklian with Stuart Ayres as deputy Liberal leader

NSW treasurer Dominic Perrottet will contest Liberal Party leadership after Gladys Berejiklian’s resignation; NSW reports 10 deaths and 667 cases with 70% double-dose target in sight; cases continue to rise in Victoria amid vaccine mandate protests; Queensland readies for NRL grand final as state records no new local Covid infections; ACT records 38 new local cases. This blog is now closed

Queen’s dressmaker’s private documents and scrapbooks detailing furore over Princess Margaret’s wedding dress are up for saleDrawings and legal documents that once belonged to the Queen’s former dressmaker Sir Norman Hartnell have revealed details of a row that rocked the House of Windsor and his own illustrious fashion house 60 years ago.A rediscovered bundle of private papers and scrapbooks, to be auctioned next month, also includes previously unseen designs by Hartnell created for Princess Anne. “The colours are amazing and very evocative of the era,” said vintage fashion specialist Susan Orringe. Continue reading...

Top official says council ignores US weapons tests, after it met over Pyongyang’s anti-aircraft missile launchNorth Korea has accused the United Nations security council of applying double standards over military activities among UN member states amid international criticism over its recent missile tests.The council met behind closed doors on Friday upon requests from the United States and other countries over the North’s missile launches. Continue reading...

Twenty contemporary writers recommend overlooked novels, essays and poetry that deserve to sit alongside the classics on our bookshelves. Introduction by Kadish MorrisIt wasn’t until I started university in 2008 that I truly realised how little regard there was for Black authors. My creative writing lecturer was a Black poet, whose teaching material and reading lists were saturated with authors of colour, but each term, I noticed that the class was shrinking. One day, there was a discourse bubbling among my white peers; they deemed him too biased, and proclaimed that his reading list was too Black. He’d been suggesting interesting works such as Ishmael Reed’s Juice! and Clarence Major’s Painted Turtle: Woman With Guitar, but students banged their fists on the table for more Plath, more Twain, more Orwell.A 2017 report showed that of 400 authors named as writers of literature by 2,000 people, only 7% were from Black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds. Sunny Singh, co-founder of the Jhalak prize, which recognises Black and Asian writers in Britain, said the list reflected “a deeply entrenched imaginative conservatism, where the need to hold on to a nostalgic past combines with a fear of confronting a complex present in all its variety”. Continue reading...

The Polluter Pays principle applies to flats as much as fridges – and residents should not be left in the lurch

The singer describes a peaceful family day with gospel music, films and Caribbean cookingEarly riser? I’m not lying in with anyone, so there’s not much incentive to stay in bed, and my son is 24 – so there are no early starts with a child that you can’t reason with.Sundays growing up? We were all about Caribbean traditions. It was church and family. We’d have a breakfast of sardines, crackers and hot pepper sauce, then an early Sunday dinner of chicken, rice, peas, coleslaw and dumplings. Continue reading...

As the covers come off the Arc de Triomphe, work begins to realise an ambitious project in the desert and secure the artist’s legacyBefore he died last year the artist Christo had not one but two dreams: to wrap the Arc de Triomphe and to build a massive structure out of oil drums in the desert sands of Abu Dhabi. L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped was completed last month and today visitors to Paris will have one last chance to see the arch swathed in silver blue fabric before it is dismantled tomorrow.Once he has overseen the monument’s restoration to its original glory in time for Armistice commemorations next month, Christo’s nephew Vladimir Yavachev will turn his attention east to create the last monumental project that – if completed – will be the artist’s only permanent large-scale sculpture and the largest artwork in the world. Continue reading...

Those who report inappropriate behaviour in forces should be given more support, say senior officersPolice vetting procedures will be urgently reviewed as part of attempts to address the crisis engulfing policing after the murder of Sarah Everard.Senior officers in charge of UK policing standards also revealed that they wanted to rebuild trust by better protecting officers who challenged “unacceptable behaviour” by colleagues. Continue reading...

Dr Kerry Chant warns next week is ‘critical’ for state as Victoria and ACT see slight declines in numbers

A Taliban commander invited the media to inspect the site where America plotted killing raids and tortured prisonersThe cars, minibuses and armoured vehicles that the CIA used to run its shadow war in Afghanistan had been lined up and incinerated beyond identification before the Americans left. Below their ashy grey remains, pools of molten metal had solidified into permanent shiny puddles as the blaze cooled.The faux Afghan village where they trained paramilitary forces linked to some of the worst human rights abuses of the war had been brought down on itself. Only a high concrete wall still loomed over the crumpled piles of mud and beams, once used to practise for the widely hated night raids on civilian homes. Continue reading...

Put aside rights and wrongs and try to understand, says Philippa Perry. Being right is overratedThe question I am writing to ask your advice about our 22-year-old granddaughter. We house-sit for my daughter and her family when they are away. They have dogs, but don’t like to put them in kennels. We have always got on well with our granddaughter and indulged her, along with her brothers. But she is spoilt. Last month while we were there to house-sit, there was shouting between her and my husband. She didn’t like the fact that my husband had disciplined our dog when we arrived – but our dog was jumping up.I know my husband has a short temper, but it blows over quickly. Her reaction was over the top. She stormed off and wouldn’t look at him. She asked him to leave the lounge as she wanted to watch a film. She actually arranged for a friend to call every two days to check the dogs were being looked after OK, as if we are untrustworthy. She texted me to say we were not to go into her room and she referred to my husband by his name and not “Grandad”. Continue reading...

Taipei says 39 Chinese fighter jets crossed into its defence zone in two sorties, following a 38-plane incursion on FridayChina has for the second day in a row flown more than 30 military planes towards Taiwan in yet another record show of force.Taiwan’s defence ministry said 39 aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone in two sorties on Saturday, one during the day and one at night. That followed a similar pattern on Friday, when 38 planes flew into the area south of the self-governing island. Continue reading...

Fears that controversial leader is lining up his daughter as his successorPhilippine president Rodrigo Duterte has announced that he will retire from politics and abandon his bid to become vice-president in next year’s election, fuelling speculation that his daughter Sara Duterte will instead run for office.Duterte had previously accepted a nomination by his party to stand in the May election, a controversial plan that could have allowed him to retain power beyond the limits of his six-year term. However, recent polling suggests that many Filipinos disapproved of the idea, which critics warned would undermine the constitution. Continue reading...

More lava spews out on to La Palma island as scientists record eight earthquakes up to magnitude 3.5The erupting volcano on Spain’s Canary Islands has blown open two more fissures, with authorities reporting “intense” activity in the area.The new fissures, about 15 metres (50 feet) apart, sent streaks of fiery red and orange molten rock down toward the sea, parallel to an earlier flow that reached the Atlantic Ocean earlier this week. Continue reading...

Quarantine will no longer be required for fully vaccinated travellers from 45 other countries from later in OctoberThe prime minister, Boris Johnson, will open up more countries for hotel quarantine-free travel later this week, the Sunday Telegraph reported, saying the UK’s “red list” of destinations would be slashed to nine from 54.Fully vaccinated arrivals from countries including Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa will no longer have to quarantine in a government-designated hotel for 10 days when they get to England from later in October, the newspaper said. Continue reading...

Delta strain continues to ravage unvaccinated countries; UK expected to scrap quarantine requirements for travellers from 45 countriesCampaigners have accused the UK government of creating a system of “vaccine apartheid” by blocking an intellectual property waiver for coronavirus vaccines.India and South Africa first proposed waiving intellectual property rights for vaccines at the World Trade Organization (WTO) a year ago today.Right now, Boris Johnson is enforcing a system of vaccine apartheid.Given the British government’s failure to export or supply more than a tiny trickle of doses, the least we can do is get out of the way of others producing their own vaccine. Failing to act will shame the UK for a generation or more.We have so much untapped vaccine manufacturing capacity, but corporate monopolies are creating an artificial shortage of Covid jabs. For an entire year, the UK has quashed pleas from low- and middle-income countries to waive patents and millions have died in the process.Ten thousand people die every day that the UK continues to block a vaccine intellectual property waiver at the World Trade Organization. Each one of those deaths should be a stain on the conscience of the prime minister.The beginning of a new session is a time for renewal and fresh thinking, providing an opportunity to look to the future and our future generations.Next month, I will be attending Cop26 events in Glasgow.Today is also a day when we can celebrate those who have made an extraordinary contribution to the lives of other people in Scotland, locally or nationally during the Covid-19 pandemic.I have spoken before of my deep and abiding affection for this wonderful country and of the many happy memories Prince Philip and I always held of our time here. Continue reading...

Family of Jorja Halliday from Portsmouth say medics did ‘everything they could to save her’A 15-year-old girl who tested positive for Covid-19 has died on the day she was due to have her vaccine, her family said.Jorja Halliday, from Portsmouth, died at the Queen Alexandra hospital on Tuesday, having tested positive for the virus four days earlier. Continue reading...

Blaze engulfs more than 200 houses and businesses, forcing hundreds of residents to fleeA huge fire destroyed or damaged more than 200 houses and businesses on the Honduran island of Guanaja on Saturday, forcing hundreds of residents to flee for safety and ravaging the tourism-dependent resort, relief authorities said.Dramatic video footage shared on social media showed rows of seaside houses engulfed in flames and wooden homes collapsing in Guanaja, a Caribbean island about 44 miles (77km) off the north coast of Honduras. Continue reading...

Fake arrest fears following the murder of Sarah Everard to be allayed through live contact with police control roomLone police officers in Scotland will offer a verification check to the public from Saturday to provide reassurance that they are genuine officers, following widespread concern after the murder of Sarah Everard.The new process will allow for the officer’s personal radio to be put on loudspeaker and for an officer or police staff member in a Police Scotland control room to confirm they are who they say they are, that they are on duty and the reason the officer is speaking to the member of the public. Continue reading...

Since Sarah Everard’s brutal murder, only one thing has changed – the death tollPeople said something had changed with the awful death of Sarah Everard. But the message certainly hasn’t reached the men who rape, harm and kill women. And I can’t see a difference in the government, police, Crown Prosecution Service or the judiciary either.Since Sarah Everard was abducted, raped, murdered and, in the words of her mother, “disposed of as if she were rubbish”, at least 81 other UK women have been killed in circumstances where the suspect is a man. It is absolutely ludicrous that we know this because of my work, a random northern woman in east London, not the government, not the National Police Chiefs Council. Each of these women will have died in terror and pain, just like Sarah. Each one leaves behind grieving friends and family for whom the loss will last a lifetime. Continue reading...

Joe Biden laments ‘astonishing death toll’ as 100,000 die since June despite the availability of vaccinesThe Covid-19 death toll in the US has now surpassed 700,000, despite the Covid-19 vaccines’ wide availability, in what one expert called a “tragic and completely avoidable milestone”.Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that the US went just past 700,000 deaths on Friday; the US had previously reached 600,000 deaths in June. The country has had a total of 43.6m confirmed cases of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins. Continue reading...

It is the ‘mystery that must be solved’ – seven-and-a-half years after the Malaysia Airlines flight disappeared with 239 people on boardSomewhere in the vast expanse of Earth’s oceans lies MH370, the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared on 8 March 2014 with 239 people on board.Authorities closed the books on the search in 2017, but all over the world people are continuing the hunt. And one day the plane will be found. Continue reading...

Crowds parade through cities as polling shows president’s ratings sinking to new depthsTens of thousands of protesters have returned to the streets of Brazil’s biggest cities to demand Jair Bolsonaro’s impeachment, as a poll showed the Brazilian president’s ratings had plumbed new depths.Huge crowds paraded through downtown Rio on Saturday to voice their outrage at Bolsonaro’s response to a Covid outbreak that has killed nearly 600,000 people and dealt a heavy blow to the South American country’s economy. Continue reading...

The novelist on his latest work, an 800-page tribute to the American author Stephen Crane, and why the greatest writers are monomaniacsPaul Auster is in bed. We’re speaking on the telephone and it’s in his bedroom that his reception is best. “I much prefer telephone calls,” he says. “So much better than these terrible little squares on a screen.” Known for his elegant, lapidary novels – The New York Trilogy and Moon Palace are more than 30 years old now – Auster’s later career has seen him in more expansive form. His Booker-shortlisted 4321 was almost 1,000 pages of speculative fiction, looking at the various paths a life could take. Now, in one of his regular forays into nonfiction, he has written, at 800 pages, another absolute unit of a book. His subject, the turn-of-the-century novelist and poet Stephen Crane, lived a short life – he died at 28 and his complete works could be read in a weekend. Auster’s book, though, is massive. It’s also marvellous: part biography, part literary criticism. Auster takes you deep into the heart of his own obsession with Crane’s extraordinary, radical writings and it’s almost impossible not to be infected by his enthusiasm.Auster is the author of 20 novels, has won numerous prizes and lives with his wife, the author Siri Hustvedt, in Brooklyn, New York.Burning Boy: The Life and Work of Stephen Crane is published by Faber (£25). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may applyGuardian Live will host an online event with Paul Auster on Monday 11 October. Book tickets here Continue reading...

Behind a seemingly minor dispute, the long unresolved enmity with Serbia simmersAt an abandoned petrol station, half a mile from Kosovo’s Jarinje border checkpoint with Serbia, a giant Serbian flag had been laid out on the roof. In the former forecourt, a group of young people sat on upturned beer crates, sharing bottles of water and homemade rakija in small plastic cups. “This is our squad, our special forces,” one joked, as four tall, muscular men walked over to join them.The mountain road next to them, flanked on either side by groups of protesters around tents and smouldering campfires, had been well and truly blocked by the men’s heavily laden trucks. Continue reading...

Andrew Krivine began collecting music industry flyers and posters in 1977 on his annual trip from the US to see family in London. “I’d go on expeditions to Camden Market, Rough Trade, Stiff Records and even brazenly walk into the headquarters of Virgin Records,” he recalls. By the time he’d finished college in the early 80s (spending a year in the UK as well as studying in Chicago), he’d amassed around 5,500 items of memorabilia for punk and new wave LPs, gigs and clubs. The finest of these have now been collected in the book Reversing into the Future (published by Pavilion on 14 October, £35). In a time before Spotify and YouTube, poster art was key to a band selling their sound to an audience. “Designers translated music into visual terms,” says Krivine. “This was the last great burst of graphic design creativity of the 20th century.” Continue reading...

Vibrant prints, tunics and knee-high boots are back on the couture catwalk – more than 50 years after the first ‘youthquake’The new exhibition at London’s Fashion and Textile Museum, Beautiful People: The Boutique in 1960s Counterculture, might have been 15 years in the making but it is, as head of exhibitions Dennis Nothdruft, says “timely”. The 1960s – a decade so mined for retro references that it has become the stuff of costume parties – is once again in vogue.At Prada’s first physical show since the pandemic, the big newswas the return of the miniskirt, that classic sixties shape so associated with London designer Mary Quant. Minis have also been seen at Versace and Max Mara – and worn by celebrities including Jennifer Lopez, Selena Gomez and Adele. Last week in Paris, Maria Grazia Chuiri’s show for Christian Dior harked back to the brand’s 60s designer Marc Bohan, with miniskirts and pop colours dominating. Continue reading...

Research concludes it ‘was probable’ that Menwith Hill was used to assist in the controversial assassinationCampaigners have called on ministers to explain whether the secretive Menwith Hill intelligence base in Yorkshire is involved in recent drone strike assassinations, after the publication of a report that raises questions about UK involvement in US attacks.The research concludes it “was probable” that Iranian general Qassem Suleimani was killed in January last year using information obtained from the British site, essentially an outpost of the US National Security Agency (NSA). Continue reading...

A 38-year-old has been arrested with none of the victims believed to be in a life-threatening conditionA man has been arrested after four people were attacked with a hammer in central London.The 38-year-old first attacked two women on Regent Street at approximately 10.45pm on Friday, the Met police said. Continue reading...

The Tyneside rocker on his favourite bath time podcast, a second world war memoir and where to get the best breakfast kippersSam Fender was born in 1994 and raised in North Shields. He began writing songs aged 14, building on an affinity with Bruce Springsteen, and started acting a few years later, appearing in the ITV series Vera. After releasing his first single, Play God, independently in 2017, Fender featured in the BBC’s Sound of 2018 poll. He won the critics’ choice award at the 2019 Brits and his debut album, Hypersonic Missiles, entered the UK charts at No 1. His second album, Seventeen Going Under, is out this week on Polydor. Continue reading...

The Queen spoke of her 'deep and abiding affection' for Scotland during the formal opening of the Scottish parliament's sixth session.The pandemic and the Cop26 climate conference, which starts in Glasgow on 1 November, were mentioned in a short speech by the monarch, who told MSPs they would have a 'key role' in tackling climate change Continue reading...

Women who turn down advice from health service staff say they are being coerced with threats of referrals to agencies and policePregnant women and new mothers are being referred to social services by midwives for refusing to follow their advice, patient advocacy groups have warned.Expectant parents who have declined care, including opting out of scans, refusing inductions or failing to attend antenatal appointments, are among those who have faced threats from healthcare professionals amounting to coercion, according to the Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services (Aims). Continue reading...

The 40-year-old actor on living with Frodo, coping with fans and why he loves fatherhoodI grew up in a blue-collar, working-class family in Cedar Rapids in Iowa. My dad worked at the box factory, and my mum worked at the Quaker Oats factory. Eventually they pooled resources and built a deli called Souper, which sold soups, sandwiches and salads. There’s normally a moment of inspiration that inspires an actor’s origins. For me it was minestrone soup… Of course it wasn’t! I never had that moment.When I was six a talent manager spotted me and asked me if wanted to become an actor. I was like, “Yeah, why not?” My mother took me and my brother, Zack, who is seven years older than me, to LA for six weeks to a talent-spotting event and I ended up getting a job on a Paula Abdul video. Things moved relatively fast in the grand scheme of things. Continue reading...

Met Office says strong winds could also cause delays to transport and a short loss of powerHeavy rain and up to 60mph winds will hit parts of England and Scotland and could cause flooding, travel disruption and power outages on Saturday.The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for the east and south of England and the north-east of Scotland, over Aberdeenshire, Orkney and Shetland. Continue reading...

Inspired by hit podcasts and documentaries, ordinary people are trying to track down fugitives and reopen cold cases. But should they be?Although the story you are about to read involves a fugitive, law enforcement and a six-month chase across Mexico, for Billy Jensen it was just another day on the job. In 2017, Jensen was on the hunt for a pale, ginger, tattooed California killer hiding out in Mexico. Jensen uploaded a photo of the fugitive to Facebook. “¿Has visto a este hombre?” he asked, using Facebook’s targeted ad tools to ensure the post was seen by people living near American bars. Tips came flooding in. One tipster snapped a photo. In just 24 hours, Jensen had his guy.Unfortunately, the killer was on the move. It took half a year of similar posts for the 49-year-old Jensen to finally get the suspect apprehended by the Mexican police – for Jensen isn’t a police officer himself, or a detective, or an FBI agent. He is a podcaster, author, journalist, and self-described “citizen sleuth”. Continue reading...

Alessandra Clemente’s plan to end the cycle of violence relies on winning over the mothers and wives of the Camorra mobstersOn 11 June 1997, a 10-year-old girl named Alessandra Clemente heard 41 gunshots from an open window at her home in Naples, as she was waiting for her mother to return for lunch. When the shooting stopped, she ran to the window and saw her mother, Silvia, lying in a pool of blood. Alessandra’s little brother stood next to their mother, wailing. Silvia Clemente was not the assassin’s target, but, at age thirty nine, she had been killed by a stray bullet. Until that day, Alessandra had never heard of the organisation that had ended her mother’s life, and would now begin to shape the rest of hers: the Camorra—the Napolitan mafia.Twenty-four years later, Alessandra Clemente, now a 34-year-old woman, is running to become the next mayor of Naples. Her campaign includes other relatives of Mafia victims and the son of a top Camorra mobster. At each election rally, Clemente recalls the occasion of her mother’s death. Continue reading...

The former president of the United States was at a crossroads in his life when he wrote his first book, Dreams from My FatherI was in my early 30s when I wrote Dreams from My Father. At the time, I was a few years out of law school. Michelle and I were newly married and just beginning to think about having kids. My mother was still alive. And I was not yet a politician.I look back now and understand that I was at an important crossroads then, thinking hard about who I wanted to be in the world and what sort of contribution I could make. I was passionate about civil rights, curious about public service, full of loose ideas, and entirely uncertain about which path I should take. I had more questions than answers. Was it possible to create more trust between people and lessen our divides? How much did small steps toward progress matter – improving conditions at a school, say, or registering more people to vote – when our larger systems seemed so broken? Would I accomplish more by working inside existing institutions or outside of them? Continue reading...

In our new column, in which we make nice things happen for nice people, Khaled Wakkaa starts to turn his passion into a livelihoodIn a Lebanese hospital in 2015, Khaled Wakkaa watched as his wife Dalal grew weaker. She was emaciated and jaundiced. In the two years since they had fled the Syrian civil war, they’d lived on the brink, sleeping on the street or on friends’ floors. “Me and my wife had started to die,” he says. The hospital wanted $500 for medical bills. Wakkaa left her in the waiting room and went begging at mosques and churches. Nobody would help.Some friends posted about his situation on Facebook. Fellow Syrian refugees in Beirut started calling. “I received phone calls from people who don’t have money,” he says. “But they wanted to help me.” They gave him everything they’d managed to scrounge together: $200. At first, the hospital refused to accept the smaller amount, but relented after much pleading, and Dalal was admitted. Continue reading...